Celtic penalty award under microscope as 'baffled' Motherwell boss takes aim at referee decisions and demeanour

Motherwell boss Stuart Kettlewell was left feeling aggrieved after his side were on the wrong end of debatable refereeing decisions in the 4-0 defeat to Celtic on Boxing Day.

Referee Ross Hardie awarded a penalty to Celtic in first-half injury time when Hyun-jun Yang hit the deck under minimal contact from Motherwell goalkeeper Aston Oxborough, from which Arne Engels opened the scoring. It followed an incident earlier in the match when Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise was booked for simulation after going down in the box under a challenge from Yang. VAR checked both decisions and sided with the referee.

Celtic went on to record a comfortable victory through second half goals from Daizen Maeda, Nicolas Kuhn and Reo Hatate but Kettlewell's frustration was with the referee's interpretation of the two penalty claims, insisting that the yellow card for his own player was not too disimilar to the award which Celtic benefited from.

Celtic's Hyun-jun Yang is brought down in the box by Motherwell goalkeeper Aston Oxborough. (Photo by Rob Casey / SNS Group) | SNS Group

"This is where I'm left baffled," Kettlewell said as he addressed Maswanhise's yellow card for diving. "I don't think it's a penalty, but it's not a dive. He has not tried to buy a penalty. He's running at pace, the Celtic player is touch tight. I would say that there is some sort of contact there, but not enough for a penalty in my opinion, and the referee instantly books him and regards it simulation. I'm kind of blown away by that, I really am.

"I think we've probably all seen at the time that it was close. Are we claiming for a penalty? I think you naturally do instantly, but very quickly after it, I didn't feel there was a penalty, but I certainly don't think JT's took a dive at that stage. That's incredibly frustrating because it comes back to this level of consistency in the decisions that we make, that we see that completely different from, for example, the Celtic penalty. I struggle to see that there's a ridiculous amount more contact in either situation. I certainly don't think JT's was a penalty, and I think it's a complete overreaction to give him a yellow card."

Describing the concession of the penalty opener as "a bitter blow" after his side had largely contained Celtic throughout the first half, Kettlewell felt the decision to penalise goalkeeper Oxborough was a soft one. He added: "Disappointed on first view, and I've genuinely not analysed it, studied it, the replays of the penalty. At the time my gut feeling was that it was soft in terms of how the Celtic player went down from what I felt was minimal to little, if any, contact. I would need to see that again. I didn't feel that there was much in it at all."

Motherwell's Tawanda Maswanhise was booked for simulation after going down under a challenge from Celtic's Hyun-jun Yang. (Photo by Craig Foy / SNS Group) | SNS Group

It is the second match in succession where Motherwell have been left disgruntled with the referee after Dan Casey's controversial red card against Kilmarnock last Friday was overturned following an appeal. Kettlewell also had words for the referee Hardie’s demeanour at Celtic Park.

"What they were a wee bit irked with today was by the referee's demeanour and how he communicates with them. I've went on record a number of times saying that. If you speak to someone in the appropriate fashion, then I think you'll get better reactions from players. I don't think you'll get as much petulance and as much firing at the referee.

"Genuinely, the players felt that that's been better over the course of the season than what it was. That's nothing to do with the decisions, but it's probably just a wee feeling for me that we can all have a conversation. Sometimes we'll disagree, sometimes we'll fall out, but I just think that that communication element is so important. I'll take my bit on that as well. I can be a bit emotional, so can football players, but sometimes you just need to put it on a level and almost not having the mannerisms as if you're a kid at school to waft you away from situations. Communicate, speak, give players an understanding of what your thought process was and I'm sure they'll respect you."